While space exploration is a subject which continues to fascinate millions of people all over the world, it is hard for us now to imagine now what it must have felt like to be a Russian -- or Soviet -- citizen that day.
The Soviet Union had not only managed to put the first person into space. In doing so, it had scored a major success over its Cold War rival, the United States.
The world's first space traveler, Yuri Gagarin, orbited the globe and returned safely to Earth on April 12 1961. At the time, the power blocs of communism and capitalism were not only competing in almost all spheres of earthly activity: industrial; military; sporting. They were also competing in a space race.
From The Middle Ages To The Space Age
The United States, of course, made the first moon landing at the end of that same decade. But Gagarin's flight was a major first -- perhaps all the more remarkable because it was only 100 years since Russia had given freedom to millions of serfs forced to work the land for their aristocratic masters. In that respect, the country had gone from the Middle Ages to the Space Age in one short century.
Naturally, it was a source of huge pride to the entire Soviet Union, from top leadership to ordinary citizen.
It was such a momentous occasion, in fact, that April 12 is still marked in Russia as 'Cosmonautics Day'.
It is not a major public holiday like those taken in Russia to celebrate, for example, New Year or victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. In Russia, many professions have their day which they will celebrate in their own way -- and this is the day for those working in this area.
There's something special about space, though. Perhaps not surprisingly, Gagarin's name has been given to streets and squares across the former Soviet Union. Reflecting a national love of space exploration and technological achievement, the scientists get name checks, too. There's a street near the Park of Economic Achievement named for the pioneering rocket engineer, Sergei Korolev.
Russia: Support For Space Exploration Still Sky High
What does it mean today? A chance to enjoy some nostalgia for achievements from the last century? Yes, but apparently not just that. For all the challenges which the Russian space programme had to endure during the turbulent decade which followed the end of communism in 1991, it emerged not only intact but, with the International Space Station, still a leader in space exploration.
Russians approve -- at least, according to an opinion poll conducted by VCIOM, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. In a survey conducted in the run-up to Cosmonautics Day, they found that more than three quarters of Russians believed that their country was leading in space exploration. More than 90% supported Russia's participation in space exploration. Only nine per cent thought that less money should be spent on it.
The worlds of international politics, technology, and business are vastly changed since Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth 58 years ago. Space exploration is still an area of international competition, but also an area of international cooperation. It's hard to imagine the latter during the Cold War. Private business is now involved where once it would only have been governments.
One thing that hasn't changed is Russia's interest in space.
